Kukla's Korner Hockey

The money ($27.5 million) raised plenty of eyebrows. So did the contract’s length (five years). But inside the organization, General Manager Brian MacLellan and Coach Barry Trotz have stood firm on their opinion that Orpik patches a blue-line hole for the Capitals, lauding the veteran’s intangibles for support.

“I know that Mac’s taken some heat on that,” Trotz said. “One of the things you get, and it’s most common, everybody looks at the points and says Brooks Orpik doesn’t have great points, so why are you paying him that? The things that Brooks Orpik does, you can’t put a value on.”...

“To me, it’s a commitment of ownership and the team saying, you know what, we’re in a good window here, let’s get the players that we want, not the players that we have to settle for, and get him because he can have an effect,” Trotz said. “And the effect is going to be in goals and assists. It’s going to be in culture and winning and attitude. And that’s what Brooks Orpik does. I listen to some of the stuff. Everybody has their opinion. They can have their opinion. It really doesn’t matter. It’s what we need, what we feel they need.”